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Free Health Care

I believe that the time time for universal healthcare has arrived.
Does anyone really believe that an insurance company, any insurance company has your or my best interests in mind. It is a necessary evil we all have to live with or rather can't live without.
On the other hand I do believe that all the healthcare proffessionals are really trying there best to heal the sick and injured. All the while like the rest of us trying to make a decent living.
Yes of course we have the lawyers, f**king lawyers, trying much like the insurance executives to make a living while producing little. They truly deserve each other.
Make it all a federal program that maybe I can get some use out of. Something that I will be using and paying for not like some pork barrel program for spotted monkey bugs or some such Bull.
yea yea, it will be rough at first probably 5 years before the bugs get worked out. Most likely some shortages of services and providers but in the end supply and demand will win over. The cracks and gaps will be filled in and everone will wonder what took us so long.
We are the only civilized country in the world without universal health care, now we have done a lot of things that other countries have copied and or took and used. We ought to be at least smart enough to steal a good idea when we see one.
No one that I know of ever turned down a health care program that was offered. Anyone you know turning down thier Medicare or Medicaid or any other socialized medicine. If you have enough money you will be able to pay for enhanced medical care.
Crimmeny, the good old days and the status quo is not getting the job done, those who stand still will be on the sidelines soon enough. Change will come to all things healthcare included.

Overall, the profit margin for health insurance companies was a modest 3.4 percent over the past year, according to data provided by Morningstar. That ranks 87th out of 215 industriesand slightly above the median of 2.2 percent. By this measure, the most profitable industry over the past year has been beverages, with a 25.9 percent profit margin. Right behind that were healthcare real-estate trusts (firms that are basically the landlords for hospitals and healthcare facilities) and application-software (think Windows). The worst performer was copper, with a profit margin of minus 56.6 percent.

15%

85% of Americans are insured right now. That leaves only 15% who need coverage. Why not extend Medicaid to cover the working poor. They deserve it more than people who haven't worked in 3 generations, but are getting it now. The rest of that 15% who can afford to self-insure but don't, (and there's plenty of them), too bad.

85% of Americans are insured right now. That leaves only 15% who need coverage. Why not extend Medicaid to cover the working poor. They deserve it more than people who haven't worked in 3 generations, but are getting it now. The rest of that 15% who can afford to self-insure but don't, (and there's plenty of them), too bad.

Because that 15% isnt all poor. Most are young people who think they dont need insurance so they gamble. If you gamble, you know you could loose. why do we have to pay for them? They decide to buy a bmw instead of insurance. If a real poor person needs attention, they get it in an er.... no chg. Our existing system works.

My doctor gave me six months to live, but when I couldn't pay the bill he gave me six months more.
Walter Matthau

Healthcare reform?

Great topic! We need free market reform not socialize medicine! Government never has or will run any program efficiently. Just look at the post office, social security, IRS, VA, etc...Several countries have Socialize medicine and it's a disaster. When it comes to getting proper medical care the system falls short and the costs are huge!

Because that 15% isnt all poor. Most are young people who think they dont need insurance so they gamble. If you gamble, you know you could loose. why do we have to pay for them? They decide to buy a bmw instead of insurance. If a real poor person needs attention, they get it in an er.... no chg. Our existing system works.

Spots, read the part where I said that "the rest of them who can afford it but don't choose to buy it, too bad". As in too bad for them when they get ill. I don't disagree with you.

Profit margin is a meaningless number! If some company starts paying all their employees twice the market rate, and secretaries start getting $100k, their profit margin will go down. That doesn't mean they are doing bad. That just means they are spending everything they are making.

Health insurance companies in the USA spend far less on actual health care from every $1 they get. It varies from state to state, from as high as 20 cents of every $1 not spend on health care, to as low as around 10 cents. Medicare spends 2 cents of every dollar on administrative costs.

Does it not offer a parcel service nor comparable to UPS/Fedex? It sure does.
Does it not offer small letter service comparable to UPS/Fedex? It beats them by a long shot.
Does the quality of service suck? Not according to independent satisfaction surveys.
Does it run a deficit or use tax dollars? Nope! It turns a small profit that is limited by law.

Because that 15% isnt all poor. Most are young people who think they dont need insurance so they gamble. If you gamble, you know you could loose. why do we have to pay for them? They decide to buy a bmw instead of insurance. If a real poor person needs attention, they get it in an er.... no chg. Our existing system works.

No, you can't lose. And that's the whole point. Someone still will pay for people that get sick but refuse to pay bills or buy insurance. Nobody is going to kick them to the curb. They will still get care.

If universal care is paid from federal taxes, everyone will pay into it. You don't want to mess with IRS! Even though someone above brought it up as an inefficient government agency. It is not. Very few get away with not paying the IRS. It is feared throughout the world. Ask Switzerland.

Profit margin is a meaningless number! If some company starts paying all their employees twice the market rate, and secretaries start getting $100k, their profit margin will go down. That doesn't mean they are doing bad. That just means they are spending everything they are making.

Health insurance companies in the USA spend far less on actual health care from every $1 they get. It varies from state to state, from as high as 20 cents of every $1 not spend on health care, to as low as around 10 cents. Medicare spends 2 cents of every dollar on administrative costs.

That just means they're giving people disposable incomes... Have you seen what the majority of the GDP is? That is until this wonderful administration tries to make government spending the majority of the GDP at least.